The Citizen (KZN)

Pitso pins hopes on goal feast

I WOULD LOVE THE SCORE TO BE 4-3 He says Pirates are a different propositio­n to last season.

- Michaelson Gumede

Pitso Mosimane is hoping for a high-scoring thriller when Mamelodi Sundowns host Orlando Pirates in an Absa Premiershi­p cracker at Loftus Versfeld this afternoon.

Mosimane believes that the Soweto giants play similar football to his table-topping Masandawan­a side, unlike most teams who he says tend to “sit back”.

“I won't be expecting Pirates to be sitting back because they have got goals in them. I would love the score to be 4-3, so let’s see the goals," said Mosimane.

“One thing I know is that they will be coming at us. I have seen all the games they have played this season – they don't sit back.

“When you play Pirates there are too many toe-to-toes. They play proper football, there are goals, there are movements and there are breaks and transition­s. They will catch us on the transition, they will trouble us and I think that is what supporters want to see," Mosimane added.

He admitted that preparing for the Buccaneers has proved to be tricky, as he is uncertain on which team coach Milutin Sredojevic will field.

“They have got a lot of interplay and have very good individual players. The challenge we have is that we don't know which team will come out because they use a lot of players. We never know what’s coming, but to show that they are doing the right thing, there’s uniformity in the way they play, it doesn’t matter who they field, which is a sign of a team that has found their right combinatio­n.”

With former Brazilians assistant coach Rhulani Mokwena now in the Sea Robbers’ camp as Sredojevic’s right-hand-man, Mosimane jokingly alluded to the fact that Mokwena might be taking a leaf from Downs’ book.

“It is a very different team and in my opinion they are a much better team than the one we won 3-1 against in November. They are organised and there are a lot of similariti­es in tactics … things we do, they do. But it is part of the game, it’s okay.”

 ?? Picture: Gallo Images ?? PITSO MOSIMANE
Picture: Gallo Images PITSO MOSIMANE

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